SMS Power 2026 Compo Entries

[RT-55J]

Arpabet Speech Synthesizer by Digital Fluff

This is a simple software toy for the SG-1000 that implements playback of so-called ARPABET phenomes. It's basically like a speak-n-spell sort of deal.

The software presents you with 3 modes:

ARPABET SAY brings up the keyboard for you to type stuff on:

It's neat, though I wouldn't have known what sounds some of those weirder letter sequences were supposed to be for without checking the Wikipedia page (or some trial and error). One oddity is that pressing Enter to play a sound also clears whatever you've typed.

The ARPABET TEST option just has the machine say a prewritten speech about itself.

The INSULT ME option has the machine hurl insults at you. Some of them are pretty good. Some of them are vulgar. And about two that I encountered might have flown 20 years ago, but I wouldn't have included them myself.

I didn't spend much time with this, but I appreciated how robotic the voice sounded.